Individually Moldable Boot Inserts

It was previously determined that military personnel would be more comfortable and suffer fewer injuries by using footwear inserts in their combat boots. However, this required several different inserts to be provided. The main question that remained was whether these benefits could be obtained with a single heat moldable insert that could be custom fit to an individual. 163 military personnel were randomly assigned to either a control group where they used their current footwear or an experimental group where they received custom heat moldable inserts. The molded inserts substantially increased the overall comfort of the footwear. They also lead to a decrease in footwear related injuries, particularly soft tissue injuries of the legs. The molded inserts did not affect the pressure under the foot or the muscle activity of the lower leg. It appears that a single, heat moldable insert provided to the military personnel could lead to improved comfort and possibly reduced injuries as well.